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NEWS Crypto Weekly
Looming Legal Battle Puts SEC's Crypto Crusade at Risk I
n 2021, the SEC went after crypto. In 2022, crypto is coming for the SEC.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has vowed to rein in what he's dubbed "Wild West" abuses in the $1.6 trillion market. Industry leaders, flush with cash and deeppocketed investors following a trading boom in Bitcoin and other digital assets, are aiming their lawyers at the sheriff of Wall Street in an intensifying legal fight.
February 2022 | Volume 14
Blockchain payments firm Ripple, the de facto leader of the revolt, has been winning procedural court cases trying to fend off the SEC in a case that could redefine how the agency polices digital assets. Grayscale Investments, which wants to launch a Bitcoin fund for the masses, brought on the white-shoe law firm Davis Polk to outline a legal case against the agency that could be brought against it if it hinders the company's ambitions. The CEO of another startup, Terraform Labs, sued
the SEC after it tried to serve him with a subpoena. Crypto-friendly legislators who claim that the SEC is overstepping its authority are cheering on the legal assault. It could limit the SEC's reach for years to come and remove what many in the industry view as their biggest regulatory obstacle to launching even more virtual currency products. "As a lawyer, you're trained to not pick fights with regulators," Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty said
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